Cable terminal device



Feb. 9, 1932. LE ROY w. KELSAY CABLE TERMINAL DEVICE Filed Feb. 21, 1925 Wye/7f. Zam Mia/50] Patented Feb. 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LE ROY W. KELSAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AS SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK CABLE TERMINAL DEVICE Application filed February 21, 1925. Serial No. 10,776.

This invention relates to cable terminals and more particularly to cable terminals for joining aerial and underground telephone or telegraph cables.

5 One of the objects of this invention is to provide a terminal for cables which is practical, simple and compact while obviating the objectionable features existing in the current types of cable terminals.

In accordance with this invention a casing is provided having its bottom end open, the assemblage containing the apparatus mounted on a frame being inserted through the open bottom and secured in place in the casing,

after which a bottom plate having a gasket of cotton wicking or the like placed in a groove in the upper face of the plate is secured in place. This construction insures a water-tight joint without the necessity of expensive gaskets and machining operations, and is of such tightness as to be absolutely impervious to moisture should the casing be completely submerged in water as is likely to occur in a man-hole.

5 Other features will appear from the detail description.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters designate like parts, Fig. 1 is a vertical section; Fig. 2 is a side view of the interior of the terminating casing having a portion of one side broken away; Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the fuse; and Fig. 4 shows diagrammatically the numerical relation between the cable strands and the excess number of strands and fuses in the terminal casing.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, numeral 1 designates the rectangular-shaped cast metal terminal casing of the inverted type provided with apertures in its upper surface for the reception of stubs 2 and 3 connected at joints 1 and 5 to the main cables 6 and 7, one of which may be an underground cable and the other an aerial cable or both may be either underground or aerial. The interior connecting work is done in the shop and the whole assemblage inserted through the open bottom of the casing which is closed by the cast metal bottom plate 8 attached to the casing, which, by means of the bolts and nuts 9 and 10, respectively, compresses a gasket 11 of cotton wicking or the like placed in a v groove in the upper surface of plate 8 into wh1ch a lip on the bottom of casing 1 fits, as

shown in Fig. l.

The cable stubs 2 and 3 are sealed in the sleeves 12 and 13 which are mounted on the top of casing 1 by means of tap screws 14. A

gasket 15 under each of sleeves 12 and 13 makes a water-tight joint. The upper surface of casing 1 1s provided with a transverse rib which is apertured to admit the two plugs 16 and 17 over gaskets 18 for the purpose of filling the casing with a plastic sealing compound after assembly.

The metal frame 19, by means of screws 20, securely grips the lower ends of cable stubs 2 and 3 and also carries the wooden fuse frame 21 mounted thereto by means of wood screws 22. The various fuses 23, are mounted in frame 21 as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 and connect the corresponding wires 24 and 25 of cable stubs 2 and 3. These fuses are pref erably of the type shown in Fig. 3, having a small overall diameter without external proj ections of any kind, so that they may be easily insertable in the holes provided therefor in the frame 21 and at the same time occupy as little space as possible and consequently even the larger casings may be made of a size small enough to pass through the ordinary manhole head. The fuse consists of metal bushings 26 forced into each end of the fibre shield 27 through which is threaded the fusible tape 28 and secured in place by means of the terminal plugs 29, which are forced and soldered into the bushings 26, thus making an air-tight fuse which will not explode when blown.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 1 for the purpose of describing the operation of the device of this invention, groups A of wires 24 and 25 designate the normal number of wires in the main cable, some of which are spare lines, while groups B designate the extra strands in the cable stubs 2 and 3 over and above the normal number in main cable 6 and 7 as designated by the groups A. This excess has been chosen to be about 20% and includes the corresponding fuses 23 as well.

Considering the instance in which all of the lines, including spare lines in group A, are in use and one of fuses 23 has blown out, splices 4 and 5 at the junction of cable stubs 2 and 3 with the ends of main cable 6 and 7 respectively, are opened and the open line wires in group A connected over to afuse and wire line of group B. At the same time, the former spare lines or those open lines not in immediate use may be reconnected through as spares for future use.

The use and operation of the terminal casing of this invention has now become obvi ous, the major purpose of which is to provide adequate fuse protection with a minimum of installation and maintenanceexpense during the period of life of the terminal all other elements being considered equal. It is possible, because of the simple and-efiicient interior arrangement, to build terminal casings for more lines than is practicable with cable terminals now in use.

It is to be understood that the drawings and the foregoing description discloses only a preferred embodiment of this invention and that changes may be made in the form, proportions and construction without departing from the spirit of this invention within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

he cable terminal, a casing having an open lower end and a number of openings in its upper wall, a cover attached to the lower end of said casing, sleeves secured in said openings, a pair of cable stubs secured in said sleeves and having their ends extending into said casing, a' frame in said casing rigidly secured to said cable stubs and supported thereby, and a plurality of terminals mounted on said frame.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of February A. D.,

LE ROY W. KELSAY. 

